Antiviral and Virucidal Compounds: From Synthesis, to Screening, up to Identification

Dear Colleagues,

Over the past half century, a large number of emerging and re-emerging viral infectious diseases have emerged and have caused pandemics and epidemics all over the world. A repeated emergence of novel severe acute respiratory corona viruses (SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-2) and epidemics/outbreaks of infectious diseases caused by many pathogenic viruses (influenza virus, dengue virus, norovirus, rabies virus, Ebola virus, Zika virus, etc.) threaten human health. Furthermore, transboundary viral animal diseases (e.g., highly pathogenic avian influenza, foot-and-mouth disease, classical swine fever and African swine fever) cause huge damage within animal health and the livestock industry.

The development of antiviral drugs is an important measure to reduce severity and death in infected human and animals. At the same time, virucidal agents contribute to a reduction in viral load in environments and the inhibition of virus transmission. With the increasing global threat of viral infections in recent years, the exploration and application of novel antiviral and virucidal compounds are of great interest. Under these circumstances, the expansion of the use of natural products as sources of candidate compounds, and the improvements of chemical synthesis technology, efficient high-throughput screening and in silico drug discovery analysis are accelerating the identification of prospective compounds.

For this purpose, we welcome the submission of full research articles, review articles, and short communications related, but not limited to the:

• discovery of novel/unique antiviral and virucidal compounds;
• mechanisms of action of these compounds;
• development/improvement of antiviral therapy;
• application of virucidal compounds for viral infection control measures.

We look forward to your valuable contributions.

Dr. Anna Luganini
Guest Editor

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